Child's afterschool tantrum thwarts officer

St. Petersburg Times ^ | September 17, 2005 | ALEX LEARY and THOMAS C. TOBIN

[Egon]

I attended parochial school. My butt would have been glowing before my parents arrived!

I attended public school. My principal had my parents' permission to tan my hide. He had most parents' permision. I wouldn't have been able to sit for a month-- from whippings before and after I left school.

Strangly enough, there were very few discipline problems in that school.

[garyhope]

I got spanked with a big leather belt by the principal of my Jr. High for shooting a pea shooter (do they still have those) with 1 or 2 other guys. The school didn't tell my parents and I didn't either. I also didn't shoot any more peas in school. Or "spitwads". If you were really bad, you shot paperclips. Those really hurt.

It's a wonder I (and many of my friends) survived our childhood and youth. Boy, did we do some stupid things. I think I turned out fairly OK despite it all.

[savedbygrace]

Many years ago, when I was young, stupid, and a union member (not mutually exclusive), I learned about what the company called "malicious obedience". In other words, the union member obeyed his supervisor's work instructions to the letter, in a way that was malicious (he knew that the imprecise and assumptive wording the supervisor used would lead to a Bad Thing, but he obeyed the supervisor's words precisely anyway.)

In that case, the company filed a union grievance against the employee. I'd never heard of that happening before.

Anyway, I said all that to say this: It seems to me that the police are obeying the lawyers' instructions to the letter, and the result is the malicious destruction of school property. Malicious obedience . . . and it's the fault of the blood-sucking attorneys, IMO. (I'm not really blaming the police, you see.)

[libstripper]

Picking her up that way might be as dangerous to the picker as picking up an angry cat that hadn't been declawed.

[jwpjr]

I got my only in-school paddling because Lucy Link, the fifth grade teacher, said said I was running down the stairs. Didn't matter if I was or not, Miss Link said I was and that was that. I had to decide if I wanted to appeal the case to the supreme court (my parents) and run the risk of a another paddling or just make it a point not to give even the appearance of running on the stairs. I decided to save the appeal for another day. Miss Link, and her husband, died later that year in a head-on collision with a dump truck. Believe it or not, my sixth-grade reasoning actually had me believing for while that her fate was a pay back for the injustice she had dealt to me. As I matured I realized just how faulty that reasoning was, and that, in fact, it was pay back for all the little kids she had unjustly accused. Gosh it's great to grow up and have the benefit of mature reasoning.

[Farmer Dean]

How about a liberal application of pepper spray?Or just throw a net over the little monster.Got to be careful though-sometimes these brats charge when cornered.

[Farmer Dean]

My guess would be that in 10 years this girl will be either dead or sitting in prison,probably convicted of first degree murder.

[LaineyDee]

I watched a video of the "riot" situation at the High School in Houston the other day. The parents had gotten involved. One of the mothers was literally jumping up and down, screaming and flinging her arms around... like a nutcase. The other "mothers" tried to calm her... but had to back off. It reminded me of the 5 yr old kid that got handcuffed. Sigh. At least we know where this is coming from, eh?

[Graybeard58]

When I was in the third grade, somewhere around 1954, "old lady" Spence would paddle my butt with great regularity.

A few years ago the small town where I went to school had a 100th B/day party for her and all her former students who could were asked to attend.

I considered going because I figured that at 100 years old I could probably take her now.

I didn't go though.

[LadyPilgrim]

"Terrorists will have to wait. We need to be saved from lawyers.

Correct!!! That needs to be on a bumper sticker or T-shirt, or even a national motto........or something!

[hombre_sincero]

the little twit simply need her butt whipped good!

[jwpjr]

My wife has been a preschool director for 30 years. We have discussed her experiences on this forum a number of times over the last couple of years, but suffice it to say, she and the teachers can spot these kids when they enter the 18-month-old class. Actually, it's not the kid they spot, but rather the parent(s). Always trying to reason with the child, offering choices to the child, and then bribing the child when all else fails. She has a boy in a three-year-old class right now whose Mom is the church secretary. This kid has been trouble since day one and Mom and Dad seem completely perplexed. Oh, did I mention that they feel it's wrong to EVER spank a child. Sorry Charlie, after what I've seen her go through for 30 years I'm convinced there are simply some children for whom there is no alternative to corporal punishment. She is of the school of thought that, at least in the early years, it's not the severity of the punishment but the certainty of it that makes it effective. Every child has something he or she will consider bad enough to be avoided. For a two-year-old it's usually just a loud voice and firm slap on the rear end. They soon learn to weigh their actions with the likelihood of that surprise thump and decide it's better to avoid the thump. Every year you delay finding out what they fear enough to avoid is a year that effective control of the child's emotions, and behavior, gets more difficult. She finds it especially difficult with single-parent families. The mom, and it's usually the mom, is so busy trying to do the job of both parents that she is just to darn tired to exert the effort it takes to keep up with the behavioral problems of a two-year-old. Add to that the guilt she feels for being a single-parent family and the resulting fear that she will harm her child emotionally if she insists on good behavior and you have a kid that's in for trouble a lot of his/her life. It used to be mostly little boys, but now it's almost 50/50 and the parents have an even harder time coming down on a little girl when she has learned that she can do just about anything she wants and suffer no real discipline as a result. She had a three-year-old last year that was Shirley Temple look alike. Cutest little thing you can imagine. The problem was that she called the other kids names and her Mom just couldn't (wouldn't) believe she was doing it. The girl was standing by the gate one day at dismissal and hadn't noticed her Mom was right outside the fence, in easy ear shot. The little girl got mad a another little girl and called her a bitch, loud enough that Mom and everyone else heard it. End of problem!

[WV Mountain Mama]

The officer should have told the girl to go see if the tv still worked after she knocked it off the stand.

[Sometimes A River]

So what would they have done if the father refused to restrain her?

Let her destroy the whole school?

[Amelia]

The law mandates that the child be educated. No doubt the parents would be just as happy keeping her at home locked up in a closet or something.

The law does not mandate that the child attend an after-school program, which is where she was when the tantrum occurred. She seems to have been there for the convenience of the parents.

Most states provide exceptions from the mandatory attendance statutes for severe illness or handicaps. Most schools and states did not accept severely handicapped or mentally ill students until the courts forced them to do so.

There are a number of students for whom the school is essentially a very expensive day care system.

[Graymatter]

Turn on the hose. That diverts most kids instantaneously.

Or, just put them in the cornfield.

[squirt-gun]

Yes....what you both say is true....I wouldn't want to deal with public school teaching either.....and I am pleased that competent women have equal opportunity in today's world.

But one certainty is that the quality of teachers has tanked....fewer students per teacher....more money for teachers...But a teacher can't teach math, chemistry, or physics if she or he is incompetent in them.

The NEA's prime goal is to enrich the union leadership via as many dues paying members as possible and in the "trade" with the rank and file, get more benefits for these "teachers".....But the NEA only gives lip service to the children. The NEA is not interested in any way, shape, or form in assuring the teachers knows their craft.....hence incompetent instructors and the production of ill equipped children for the modern world.

The discipline issue is more the fault of a multitude of terriblely destructive court rulings, busing, and eager lawyers willing to sue anyone interfering with these rulings...Much of this was directed by the ACLU which in particular have been successful in dismanteling traditional American public schooling...which 50-60 years ago was the envy of the world!

Have a grand day.

[Amelia]

But a teacher can't teach math, chemistry, or physics if she or he is incompetent in them.

That's true, and those are the fields in which the salary-gap is most pronounced.

A teacher also can't teach if the "little darlings" won't behave and discipline can't be enforced. Personally, I'd tend to blame the ACLU and the courts more than the NEA, but there is plenty of blame to be shared.

We also have the lawsuit-happy parents who have bought into the pop psychology that discipline will harm a child's self esteem and cause other irreparable psychological damage.

[RightWingAtheist]

The child is a Democrat in the making.

[RightWingAtheist]

ROFL! One of the best eps ever!